


One Thousand and One Nights

by SupremeLeaderRen13



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams vs. Reality, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Force Bond (Star Wars), Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-24 11:12:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13809984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SupremeLeaderRen13/pseuds/SupremeLeaderRen13
Summary: In the weeks following the Resistance's narrow escape on Crait, Rey and Kylo Ren discover that their Force bond has bridged their dreams.





	1. Night One

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is something I've been picking at for a long while, and it's been born of a want to compile a lot of drabble into one cohesive story. Expect fluff (not my strong suit, work with me), smut, fairy tales, flashbacks, and more. If there's something you want to see, tell me and we'll go there. It is a dream, after all.   
> May the Force be with you, always.

“Supreme Leader?”  
Kylo Ren jerked out of his reverie, a gloved fist coming down hard on the table.   
“What,” he hissed. This meeting with General Hux and his board of officers had been going on for hours, and Kylo was thoroughly sick of the bureaucracy. He had shuffled through the minds of the assembled officers long enough to know that not only was this meeting getting them nowhere today, but nothing that they were discussing was ever going to work out.  
General Hux smirked at him nastily. “I suggested we adjourn until tomorrow, since your mind appears to be…elsewhere.” Malice slicked his tone. Sensing danger, the other officers shifted away almost imperceptibly. Cowards, every one of them.  
“Fine, go.” Kylo squeezed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger. He didn’t look up as footsteps retreated from the table, and continued to rest as the elevator doors hissed shut. The inevitable mutterings would be saved until they were safely floors away from him, scathing remarks about the Jedi Killer’s lack of leadership ability, the youth of the general who ordered them all…  
“Ren.” Hux’s thin voice cut through his momentary peace. “You can’t go on like this. You need to inspire confidence!” Kylo opened his eyes slowly, half hoping that Hux was nothing but an apparition brought on by a lack of sleep. No such luck—the general remained material and solid in front of him, a mirror of his own shortcomings.  
“What would you have me do?” Even to his own ears, his voice sounded hollow. He wondered vaguely why he was still tolerating Hux.   
Because you need him, a small voice chided inside his head. You have no idea what you’re doing.   
Hux’s lip curled, as though he could sense Ren’s train of thought. “Get some sleep, first of all. You look like a corpse.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his greatcoat and strode from the room. Kylo watched him go glumly, allowing his eyes to follow the slow progression of a mouse droid around the room. The pitifulness of it all threatened to overwhelm him, and he pushed his chair back from the table roughly. Thirty paces later, he threw himself into the throne that had, for so long, belonged to Snoke.  
Had it only been two weeks since Rey had stood in this room with him, trembling and bravely defiant? Pled with him—with Ben—to leave with her? And then left him lying on the floor, with his soul crippled…  
He dozed. The red walls of the throne room faded into a pleasant fuzziness. His head lolled against the back of the throne uncomfortably. He turned…and touched something warm.  
Complete, acute terror. Kylo wasn’t accustomed to physical contact, and certainly not while he slept. He’d already made to grab for his lightsaber when he registered what he was seeing.  
Rey! She was glaring at him from the opposite side of the wide throne, breathing heavily. The cold rage that she reserved only for him simmered behind her eyes, the same combination of bitter disappointment and longing that she’d left him with on Crait. With a start, he realized she was only wearing her leggings and a chest wrap. His eyes danced across the freckles that dotted her bare shoulders and he swallowed. There were so many things about her body, about her, that he didn’t know.   
But he wanted to.  
“Rey,” he whispered.  
“Did you bring me here?” She encircled her arms around her bare waist angrily.   
“No.” It was an honest answer. He’d been thinking of her—of course he was, he always was—but he hadn’t called to her. “Did you—“  
“Of course not.” The viciousness of her retort made him withdraw, half expecting a blow to follow. He rolled his jaw.  
“I’m so sorry,” he murmured earnestly. “I wanted you—“  
“I know what you wanted. To kill my friends. For me to do whatever you wanted. That’s not right, Kylo.” So they were back to Kylo now. He wasn’t Ben anymore—he was a monster. “That’s not how this was supposed to be,” she whispered. Her small hand reached out to touch the black circlet resting in his hair. “But I guess you got everything you wanted.”  
He wanted her to touch him again. A blush crept up his cheeks, knowing what he must look like, sitting on this throne and wearing a crown. “I thought I wanted this.” He yanked the circlet from his head and tossed it to the floor. “I was wrong.” He reached for her. “Rey?”  
She was focused on the floor where he’d just tossed the crown. “What is it…hey!” It was back on his head, as though it hadn’t been thrown at all. Crinkling her brows, she lifted the circlet from his hair again—  
Stars, what he’d give to hold her—  
\--and dropped it to the floor. Again it rematerialized on his head.   
“Is this…is this a dream?” Rey looked to him for confirmation, uncertainty breaking through the angry veneer she’d been wearing. He shrugged.  
“I guess so. I didn’t know we could do this.”  
“Neither did I.” They sat in silence for a few minutes, tossing objects onto the floor and waiting for them to come back. Rey experimentally unhooked Kylo’s saber from his belt and threw it as hard as she could towards the other end of the room He barely got out a shout of protest before the thing was reattached to his side.  
“Cool.” She smiled. “I wasn’t wearing mine when I went to sleep, so I guess it didn’t come with me?” Her interest in their newfound ability had dulled the sharp edge of her anger.  
That wasn’t all she hadn’t been wearing when she went to sleep. Kylo’s eyes darted towards her bare stomach and away again. “Is it hot where you’re at?”  
He realized too late that this way the wrong thing to say. Immediately her eyes narrowed, expression darkening. His suspicious little desert snake.   
“Is that what this is? A way to tempt me into telling you where the resistance is at?” She shook her head, her buns loose and falling. “No, no. How do I leave?” Her head swiveled in all directions, as though the Force would helpfully point to the way out.  
“Don’t go! Listen.” He reached for her.  
“Don’t! Just don’t, Ben.” Silence recommenced between them, Rey looking resolutely in the other direction as Kylo openly stared at her, attempting to drink her in as much as possible. Eventually, the bond lessened enough that Rey began to fade.   
Her hand closed around his wrist, and she looked at him with unwilling admiration.  
“You look like a king.”


	2. Night Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey brings Kylo back to Jakku.

Kylo sat up and immediately banged his head on something hard. He cursed, flopping back down onto the thin pallet he’d been lying on. Rough blankets scratched at his bare thighs. Kriff, it was hot. He opened his eyes as someone giggled.  
Rey was snickering from the end of the bed. “That’s what you get for following someone into their dreams.” Her tone grew soft. “It is really small, though. It felt bigger when I was little.” She was sitting at the foot of the pallet, looking through a big viewport at the night sky outside. Her body was more covered tonight, swathed in the material that she normally wore over her clothes. Because of him?  
He realized that he was the one who was nearly naked tonight, insides squirming. The black shorts he was wearing barely came to the middle of his thighs. He yanked the rough blanket up to his chest, nearly dislodging Rey.  
“You’re shy,” she mused. Her green eyes caught the reflected starlight from the window.  
This rankled him. “You’re not?”  
She shrugged, exposing on of her freckled shoulders. He licked his lips. “I never had cause to be. It’s just been me.” The wind whistled through the gaps of the tin can they were sleeping in. Kylo could feel sand grit between his teeth. “Do you want the tour?”  
He hesitated. Rey wiggled her fingers, clearly in a much better mood tonight. Slowly, he slid off the pallet and tossed back the scratchy blanket. Her eyebrows shot up before she could fully recover her poker face. That was flattering, and it made him feel a little bit better. He followed her through the room.  
“Is this an old AT-AT?”  
“Yes. I found it after it had been picked clean by other scavengers. It was better than sleeping in the children’s home in the village.” Darkness closed off her face before she smiled again. “And it was all mine.”  
Kylo frowned and turned to a rickety table beside her. A dusty, crumpled flower sat in a tin cup next to a handmade pilot doll. Several sketches of ships littered the table as well. He reached out and picked up the doll. It was miniscule in his hand. Something hurt inside of him.  
“I’ve been here,” he whispered. Rey turned to look at him, and he fought the urge to cover himself. This wasn’t like the first time she’d seen him in a state of undress. But that had been on his terms, and he’d at least had kriffing pants on. It appeared that he didn’t need to worry—Rey seemed to be perturbed by something else.  
“Is this another thing that you pulled from my head?” There was a set to her mouth that made him take a step backwards.  
“No…I dreamed about it. I never knew you were real. To see it now, with you…” He sat her doll in her hands. “It’s amazing.”  
“Amazing,” she murmured. “I used to feel you, I think. I pretended I had an imaginary friend.”  
Kylo glanced up at the far wall, marveling at the tick marks that covered every conceivable inch of space. He ran his fingers over the surface. It was textured so that he could almost feel the increasing desperation with which each mark had been made.  
“So many. So long.”  
“It’s not even all of them.” Rey glanced up at the wall, trailing her fingers across the scratches. “I have no idea how many days had passed before I found this place.” Her voice was soft. “I’m not sure when I realized they weren’t coming back, but it gave me something to do. It felt like there was an end point to look forward to.”  
Without thinking, he made a convulsive movement towards her, and had to cover his slip by lunging for the nearest object to her left.  
“What. Is. This?” Distaste colored his tone, and she laughed again. Good.  
“It’s what it looks like, see?” She stood on her tip toes and placed the helmet on his head. He blinked, trying to see through the dusty viewscreen.  
Rey guffawed, leaning over to hold her sides as she laughed. Kylo blushed and pulled the helmet off roughly, tossing it on the table. He glowered.  
“I’m sorry,” Rey gasped. “It’s just…the helmet, and the way you’re dressed…” She wiped her streaming eyes.   
“You are the one who brought me here without asking,” he said crossly. “I didn’t plan on being taken undressed from my bed.”  
She cocked her head to the side. “We’re dreaming. Just think about what you want to wear and it’ll come.” Her eyes dropped down over his body and her cheeks grew red. She cleared her throat. “Just try it.”  
He was incredulous, but tried anyway, hoping to stave off another fight. To his shock, he felt pants appear and settle against his hips. He was still shirtless, but it was already ten times better than his earlier exposure. Something dawned on him.  
“You’ve known this the whole time, haven’t you? Why didn’t you say something sooner?”  
“You didn’t ask,” she said innocently. “And based on past experience, I figured you wouldn’t mind.” She smirked at him.  
“Hmph.” He looked around, feeling tired. “This is fading, isn’t it?” The room was becoming more muddled, like they were looking at it underwater.  
“Yes.” Rey looked around with regret. “Thank you for coming with me.” She swept a piece of hair out of his eyes. “Ben.”


	3. Night Three

Sea mist settled on Rey’s exposed arms, drying quickly in the harsh winds that ravaged this part of the island. Smiling, she brought her wrist to her lips and licked it. The salty taste of the ocean coated her bare skin.  
“Did you just lick yourself?” Ben appeared suddenly, wearing long robes that tangled themselves around his legs in the wind. One eyebrow was raised towards his hairline, as though he feared for her sanity. “That’s disgusting.”  
She stuck her tongue out at him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you’d never been off a ship.”  
“Technically, I’m still on a ship. Just unconscious.”  
“You’re infuriating.” She reached for Ben’s arm, and he immediately shifted into a fighting stance. Rolling her eyes, she jerked back the sleeve of his robe and lifted his arm into the sea spray. Droplets of water rolled towards his elbow.   
“Now let it…dry,” she said, dabbing at his arm with a piece of the ridiculous robe. “There, now try it.” She pushed his hand towards his face. “Come on, try!”  
“Okay, scavenger.” Ben bent his head towards his hand and ran his tongue over the back. She was reminded of the habits of lazy desert cats, grooming themselves before resuming their violent lives. “Hmm…”  
“Hmm what?”  
“It’s almost like…” Before she could react, he caught her arm and licked the back of her hand.  
“Oh, ugh!” She Force pushed him away from her. “Why?!”  
Kylo was lying flat on his back where she’d pushed him. They were dreaming, so it hadn’t hurt him to fall, unfortunately. He put his arms behind his head.  
“I was just seeing if it tasted the same,” he said quietly, as if she’d asked him for the time.  
“Ugh! You don’t lick other people!”  
“Just so we’re clear—“ Kylo pushed himself into a sitting position in the craggy grass. “It’s okay to lick yourself, but you don’t lick other people?” His lips were working around again, as though he were trying not to smile. It made him look much younger.  
Rey scowled. “You’re making fun of me.”  
“Never, garbage picker.”  
“You know what, Ben? You can…” She muttered something she’d heard in the rougher circuits of Jakku, making him laugh. Growling with exasperation, she marched away from the cliff.  
“Rey!” He scrabbled behind her, his footsteps much more muffled than they would have been in real life. “Come back, I’m sorry.”  
“You say that a lot, but I don’t think you mean it.” His footsteps slowed behind her, and although she didn’t turn around, she could feel the mingled guilt and anger her words inspired in the warrior. Still, she slowed her pace until he could catch up with her. “I brought you here for a reason.”  
“I thought so.” Kylo looked toward the dark cave beneath them, the yawning entrance still covered in tangled flora. “I can feel it too. You were right.” There was trepidation in his face, and something else. His dark eyes flicked anxiously to hers. “You want to go in there again?”  
She shrugged. “It might not work. We’re not actually there.”  
“We don’t know how this works,” he argued. “We very well could be.” They both stopped to regard the cave again. Yes, she could feel it, the whispering, the pull, all of the emotion the Force held here. The darkness.   
He spoke again. “I guess we have to go in the way you did?”  
In answer, she flung her arms out to the side and tripped backwards into the hole. She heard a muffled shout before she hit the water. Unlike last time, the water was pleasantly warm instead of freezing, and tiny streams of bubbles danced around her. A muted disturbance to her right let her know that Ben had made the plunge as well.   
Two strong hands wrapped themselves around her waist as her head broke the surface of the water. Ben was staring at her, eyes wild as his wet hair dripped onto his shoulders.   
“You didn’t even look before you jumped! What if the water was gone? What if we were really there or teleported or something? You could have—“  
“Died?” She gently pulled his hands off of her waist and pushed herself towards the shore, annoyed. “That never bothered you before.” She could stand now, but the water was taking on the nightmare quality of quicksand. Every step felt unbearably slow. “When you had your men fire on me in the Falcon.”  
“I didn’t know you were in there.” Every word came out through clenched teeth.  
“You couldn’t sense me?” Finally, the water released her and she was able to approach the strange wall unhindered. Kylo followed.  
“I was angry. You came and you left me!” Without thinking, Kylo slammed his palm against the stone in frustration.  
“Ben,” she hissed. Too late. The stone seemed to melt away like smoke, curling away from his outstretched hand. Desperate not to miss her chance, Rey placed her hand beside his. Damn.   
It wasn’t like the first time. They could see themselves reflected, but it seemed like a film had covered their faces. There were no doppelgangers now, just the two of them barely breathing in anticipation. Rey jumped and grabbed Kylo’s free hand when a voice called out.  
“Who are they?” The voice seemed to echo from the wall, creaking and disembodied. Ben looked at her and frowned. She shrugged.   
Laughter, sinister, filled the cave. “Monster. Murderer. Monarch.”  
“Which one is which?” This voice was quieter.  
“Isn’t it obvious?” More laughter.   
“Strong in the Force,” another voice stated.  
“This isn’t like last time,” Rey muttered.  
“Of course it isn’t.” Kylo’s eyes were shut, and he kept his head bowed. Whatever he was seeing, he didn’t want to miss any of it. Dropping Ben’s hand, Rey turned around, uneasy.  
“Then who is speaking?” The cave had grown dark, with oppressively looming walls. This was turning into one of her nightmares, Rey realized. “Ben…?”  
“Sljee,” he whispered.   
“What?” The end of her sentence became a strangled shriek as one of the rocks next to them sprouted tentacles and began to move. Six antennae sprouted from the center of the stone, each ending in a rounded bulb. It looked like a weird plant that had grown around a rocky cliff. To her amazement, it began to speak.  
“Sljee,” the creature repeated. “Rey of Jakku.” The thing had no discernable eyes, but it focused on her as if it did. “You have many questions, but none of them are the right one.”  
Rey chewed the inside of her lip. If this was a nightmare, it was a strange one. “You can see the past?”  
“Shadows of the future, young Force user.” The Sljee slapped a tentacle on the water. Kylo remained totally focused on the wall.   
She glanced at him. “Earlier, you said something about a monster…”  
“Monster. Murder. Monarch. Yes.” The creature turned one of the antennae in her direction.   
“Are you talking about Ben Solo?” She jerked her head towards Kylo, who hadn’t moved an inch.   
The slab chuckled. “What makes you think that? There is another person in this cave.” The Sljee began to move back towards the darkness, muttering about the hubris of humans.  
“Wait!” Rey splashed through the water, her progress frustratingly slow. It reminded her of dreams from her childhood, when she would try to run from a monster, only to find her feet wouldn’t move. “I need help. What do you see in my future?”  
The alien stopped, only for a moment. “I cannot help you, Rey of Jakku. Your future is muddled and unstable.” It began to sink beneath the dark water. “Farewell, Rey of Jakku. Kylo Ren. Monster. Murderer. Monarch.” Laughter filled the cave, and Rey realized that they must be surrounded by Sljee. Furious, she ran back towards the wall, where Kylo was leaning.  
“Show me what I need to see.” There was no please this time. She pressed her hand against the wall with enough force to break it. Her face disappeared, replaced by a shadowy figure. When the smoke cleared, the face of Ben Solo was looking back from her. She swung her head to the side, where Ben was still deep in some sort of meditation. When she turned back, the Ben in the wall was looking calmly at her.  
Monster. Murderer. Monarch.  
For the first time, fear slithered down her spine. She was suddenly sure that the entire cave was about to collapse upon them, trapping the two of them in this nightmare forever.  
“Ben!”  
To her relief, Kylo immediately opened his eyes and dropped his hand from the wall. “Fascinating,” he whispered.  
“Ben, I want to leave.”   
He didn’t question her, just strode forward and pulled her to his chest. She took a deep breath; he smelled like leather, and Earth, plus something distinctly male that she couldn’t place, spicy and intoxicating.   
“Think of the cliff,” he said. “It’s your dream, don’t be afraid. Take us where you want to go.” Rey screwed up her eyes and thought of the cliff and the breeze and, for whatever bizarre reason, the porgs that sometimes nested there. The air around them became less stale, and she knew it had worked.   
Kylo stepped away from her. “Perfect.”  
“If you say so.” She dropped into a crouched and put her face in her hands. “That was scary. What are kriffing Sljee?”  
Ben blushed a little, embarrassment coloring his cheeks. “Oh, I think that was my fault. When I was a kid, I ran into one of them while off planet with my dad. I never liked the way they moved, and that encounter didn’t improve those feelings.”  
“Great. So we can share our nightmares, too.” She stood up. “Can Sljee really see the future?”  
“Some of them.” Kylo was watching her carefully, eyes narrowed. “Why?”  
Monster. Murderer. Monarch.  
There is another person in this cave.  
“No reason. It’s just a dream, right?” Kylo opened his mouth to speak again, but darkness descended, bringing their shared time to a close.


	4. Night Four

“Don’t talk to anyone on your way there. This is too important.” Leia placed her hand on Rey’s cheek, smiling. “May the Force be with you.”  
Rey nodded. “I’ll be fine. You haven’t lost me yet.” She lifted her wrist, where a homing beacon glowed brightly. “It’ll be so fast you won’t even notice I’m gone.”  
“Not likely.” Finn smirked at her from the table, where he leaned against Poe Dameron’s shoulder. Rey stuck her tongue out at them both. They laughed.  
“So I got a little sidetracked last time. Not happening on this trip.” She fastened her red cape over her shoulders, fumbling a little bit with the leather strap on her bag. “Nothing much to see out here.”  
“Just be careful.” General Organa tapped on the panel that released the ramp from the shuttle. “We’ll see you soon.”  
“Thank you.” She embraced Leia once before traipsing down the ramp, excitement trickling through her. A speeder sat ready next to the shuttle, black and sleek and exactly the opposite of her old quad jumper on Jakku. Squeezing the bag to make sure she still had her precious cargo, she straddled the speeder and rested her thumb on the throttle.  
The thing took off at what felt like lightspeed, and only the Force saved her from careening straight into a thicket of trees. Her senses tipped her off at the very last second, allowing her to jerk hard on the controls and cut it back to a clear path. So she was a little out of practice—this thing was intense! She blushed, thinking of what Poe’s reaction would have been.  
It felt so good to fly again after being cooped up on a ship for so long. She threw back her head and took a lungful of the moist forest air. Sunlight dappled the mossy, blurred ground that rapidly changed beneath her. After romping it for a few kilometers, she settled on a steady pace. It was absolutely crucial that she get General Organa’s message to Han Solo.   
She slowed, pulling on the break. That felt wrong. Had something happened? The Force nagged at her, as though she had forgotten something important. No, Leia had asked her to do this after speaking with Han this morning. What could possibly happen on this quiet planet?  
“You’re giving yourself the creeps,” she said aloud. The trees were getting thicker, but there was a clearing of sorts ahead. Houses, cantinas, and hotels were built into the woods surrounding them, some reaching into the highest branches. Rey slowed the speeder, considering. They’d started far away from her destination to avoid detection. She was supposed to make multiple stops, to make sure no one would be able to follow her directly. This was as good a place as any.  
The barkeep wasn’t the friendliest sort, but he responded to credits. Rey dropped into a booth in the front corner, where she had a decent view of the entire cantina. Most of the patrons were humans, but there were various alien species gathered throughout, along with natives, who looked like small, hairy turtles. One of these sidled over to her table and dropped her ordered food on the table. Starving, she immediately dug in, dropping her guard.  
“Hello.” She jumped, dropping the wafer she’d been trying to cram into her mouth. Someone had joined her across the booth. He was dressed in black, with a hood that shaded his deep-set, dark eyes. None of that was unusual for this planet, but the stranger also wore a mask on the lower half of his face. It was meant to look like the muzzle of some wild beast, complete with carvings of three inch long teeth. It completely obscured his mouth, so she couldn’t tell if he was laughing or smiling.  
“Do I know you?” She started eating again, watching him suspiciously. If this stranger meant to mess with her, maybe he’d get tired of being ignored and go away before she had to hurt him.   
No such luck. “I don’t think so, no.” The mask modulated the man’s voice, making it sound oddly sinister and robotic.   
“Hmm. Maybe you should find another table then.” She aggressively tore a strip of meat off of the leg she was holding, figuring it was best not to ask what it was. The stranger’s eyes narrowed slightly, whether with amusement or anger she wasn’t sure.  
“Where are you headed all alone?” He rested his forearms on the table, which were swathed in black like the rest of him.  
“Why would I tell you?” She could have kicked herself. Now she’d admitted she was alone. Leia would be furious. Drop the message, come back. That was pretty clear.  
Her booth partner shrugged. “Because I’m bored and you’re bored?”  
“How could you guess?” Still, she couldn’t stop herself from being curious. “I’m afraid I can’t be friend with a monster in a mask.”  
The stranger chuckled. “Oh, I see.” He raised his hand to the mask, which popped off with a hiss. His face shocked her. The large, dark eyes battled his deep red lips and distinguished nose for her attention. She felt her gaze settle on his expressive mouth before she recovered herself.  
“Oh. You’re a boy.”  
This time she could see it when he smirked at her. “Not just a boy.”  
“Hmm.” There was something uncomfortably familiar about this man, and she realized that she found him attractive. Quickly, she picked up her glass and drained it. “Ahh. If you say so.”  
“I do say so.” She moved away and he leaned in and smiled, as if he knew he made her uncomfortable. “Tell me.” Those hungry eyes darted over her face. “Do you dance?”  
Rey shot an incredulous look at the dance floor, where people were pressed much too close to each other for her comfort. “Stars, no.”  
He looked at her for three solid seconds, and she had the discomfiting feeling that he could read her mind. “Yes, you do. Come on.” He took her hand and pulled her to her feet, simultaneously replacing the mask.  
“Is that so you don’t embarrass yourself,” she asked, breathless.  
“Occupational hazard.” The modulated voice made it hard to tell if he was joking. They joined the throng of people in the center of the room, dancing to some bizarre, wild beat that was blowing out of an ancient sound system. The stranger had been right—Rey did dance, just not with other people. She was a physical person, and movement made her happy. Deciding it would be more embarrassing to stand sentinel while everyone else was dancing, she gave herself over to the music.  
Her new friend was nowhere near as fluid as her, but he could keep a beat. They spun each other around on the floor, laughing as their movements grew wild. The music grew sultrier, and Rey, shocked at her own daring, turned around and pressed her back against the boy’s chest. He snaked his arms around her waist. Smiling, she spun and caught his mask under the chin, pulling it off to kiss him.  
The din of the music swelled to a dull roar. The stranger’s hood had fallen back, exposing his long dark hair which Rey impatiently brushed away from his face so she could kiss him harder. Every fiber of her being hummed, and there was a pleasant warmth pooling in her stomach. Something about this man reminded her of home, the Force, everything she loved. His tongue gently edged into their kiss, and she obligingly opened her mouth, wanting to taste him. In the distance, several people wolf-whistled and a bottle broke.  
Wolf-whistled. Rey broke the kiss, looking down at the stranger’s mask that she’d dropped to the floor. The carved teeth seemed to mock her. There was something tugging at her memory, something about a creature in a mask…  
“Who are you,” she asked, angry with uncertainty.   
The stranger looked confused. “Rey…it’s me. It’s K-it’s Ben.” He faltered a little on the last word. “Did you seriously not know it was me?”  
The bag. The speeder. Han. It was a dream, all of it. And Kylo had let her believe it. “Get away from me,” she huffed. She had to see if it was true…this one felt so real…  
“Rey…”  
“Did you make this up just to get me to touch you? What is wrong with you!?” She pushed him hard in the chest and ran.  
“Rey!” Kylo was coming after her, pushing members of the crowd roughly out of the way. She made it to the speeder and engaged it. For whatever reason, the dream had set a path for her. Kylo’s shouting faded into the background.  
The hut was small and dingy, but a light shone in one window. This was it. The speeder hadn’t fully stopped before she slid off of it, staggering from the momentum. Sprinting, praying, she kicked open the door. Everything was much too fast, too easy, but she couldn’t squash the hope that maybe this wasn’t a dream, that she could save Han…  
Han Solo’s broken body lay on the floor, his limbs frozen in unnatural angles. Kylo, still wearing the wolf mask, was standing over his father’s body, lightsaber in hand. He turned when Rey entered the building, engaging the saber and pointing it at her.  
“Why would you do this to me?” He exploded, his rage filling the tiny space. “Is this what you think of me? A monster in a mask, just like before!” She took a step back, eyes still focused on Han’s body.  
“It’s not real.”  
“Isn’t it?” Kylo threw his lightsaber at the wall and, like before in the throne room dream, it immediately returned to his hands. “But then again, I guess I thought that kiss was too.”  
Rey mopped at her face, where a single tear was falling. “Ben,” she tried.  
“My name is Kylo Ren.” He walked out of the hut and headed toward the trees. “Just leave me alone until this is over, Rey.”  
Staggering out of the cabin, she realized that this hadn’t been Ben’s dream at all.  
The nightmare was hers.


End file.
